Hope
by Serrenedy's OC's
Summary: The battle was won and it takes 5 years to go through Azula’s crimes. Zukko has the worst Punishment thought possible for Azula...at least to Azula, Azula X Aang Mentions of boiling rock, the Beach, and Sozen’s comet.
1. Chapter 1

The battle was won and it takes 5 years to go through Azula's crimes. Zukko has the worst Punishment thought possible for Azula...at least to Azula, Azula X Aang Mentions of boiling rock, the Beach, and Sozen's comet. Who knows maybe-just maybe this exercise will help her. Oh and just to be safe-these are the ages of them as the story takes place

Aang-18

Azula-17

Zuko-21

Mai-21

Sokka-21

Ty-lee-20

Katara-20

Suki-20

Toph-17

Teo-17

**Five years ago**

_Ozai was marched through the fire nation capital-mostly because Appa didn't want to carry him. Sokka and Suki had him—one arm on each side. Aang stopped in front of Azula—whom was still crying on the floor she was still hysterical. Aang stooped down to take her bending when Ozai shouted_

_"GETUP—getup you insolent brat, how dare you allow yourself to get beaten, and by Zuko no less. I had thought I raised you correctly but now I see you're as weak as your brother, even weaker if it's possible!! And now you let the Avatar take your bending!!! Pathetic" The words broke something in Azula—she screamed, breaking out of his grip and shot fire from her mouth, refusing to let Aang within a close enough range to get her. "Oh so now you fight—what happened to that fighting sprit when you were showing the weakness of tears?! A crier is unacceptable you are no daughter of mine" Ozai raved_

_"GET HIM OUT OF HERE" Aang yelled as Azula tried to toast him, her fire growing more uncontrollable in her effort to appease her father. Sokka and Suki ran with him as he continued to shout obscenities at his 'favorite'. Aang was finally able to get close enough to her since she didn't have her father's 'motivation'. She jerked uncontrollably in order to keep him from touching her at all. As Aang looked at her he realized she held something in her eyes that was alien to Azula herself…fear. 'She does everything with her bending' he thought to himself 'that means that to her I'd be doing worse than killing her by taking it away. "Azula" he called, she refused to listen to him only increasing her screams and kicks. "AZULA" He shouted, grabbing her shoulders. "Listen to me. I'm not going to take away your bending. O.K? I'm doing you a favor…nod if you understand me" He asked, not sure about her mental state. Azula pulled herself up to her knees and took deep even breaths—within an hour she was back to normal._

_"I understand you Avatar" She snarled. "Why?" She asked. Aang looked at her with a queer sort of look, then smiled_

_"I'm can't kill, taking your bending is about the same for you. I'm gonna see if you can be helped first, I'm giving you a chance" Aang got up and went to speak to Zuko. Katara came to Azula and in a moment Azula was blacked out. _

**Now**

Fire lord Zukko sat at his imperial Throne.

"Bring her forward" He shouted. The guards brought forth the most hated, feared, and respected name in the world-former Princess Azula. "Azula you have been charged with conspiracy against not only the Fire nation, but the entire world. You have tried to kill me and my associates multiple times and evidence has been found linking you to the foul play in planning the extraction of the last firelord Ozai. You pleaded Guilty to all of these crimes and now it is time to accept your punishment." Azula remained calm-she had subjected herself to every sort of torture in her mind-she would handle it, from being banished, to execution. So long as she could keep her bending and the fact that she'd been in a prison cell the last five years she didn't think the Avatar had decided to change his mind since she had never been given that chance. She had it under control. She sardonically smiled at him

"Come on Zu-zu, try me, give your best shot." Zuko's face hardened-he too had a smile tugging at his lips

"Azula your crimes are numerous and horrible, even though you are my sister I have no choice on the matter-I am not letting you die-you will have to live with this punishment, nor am I going to enact anything horrible upon you-you have been trained to ignore it and will probably treat it more as a vacation then a punishment, I am also not sending you anywhere you can start an army of fear to control your own area or try to take over mine." Azula yawned

"Will this be over soon? I'd like to get on with my life, unless of course you just want me to rot in prison for another five years" Zuko glared.

"Your acts have been committed out of hate and cruelty-so I am punishing you with the opposite. You will be married to the one of the only people in the world not only more powerful than you, but also unafraid of you-to the only person left on earth that can possibly grow to love you. You will be given a mansion in the Fire nation so that I can watch you when he is not there. You will have only him and the occasional visits from me or my associates as company. You wed in three hours. Some of my associates will help you to get ready, be your bridesmaids and to assure your bending is out for the ceremony. Pick a maid of honor and thank your husband when you get to him Azula-_I_ preferred take your bending and employ you in a whore house until you cracked and learned feelings." With that she was dragged away by the Prince's five most trustworthy female advisors-Katara, Toph, Suki, Ty-lee, and Mai. Her face was carefully schooled as she tried not to laugh, she didn't even try fighting-Ty-lee had helped take her down and Suki was hard enough to beat on her own without learning chakra blocking. She let the façade fall as she entered her room breaking down in peals of surprisingly non hysterical laughter.

"M-m-marriage!? Ha-ha-ha, is that the best he can do? Ha-ha-ha-ha Zu-zu's losing his touch, it'll be too easy to kill my husband and form a fake identity. Oh this is rich, and who does he expect to want to marry me right about now?!" Azula was still hysterical and didn't notice when Katara and Suki shared a look

"Come-on Azula-we need to get you nice and pretty for your new husband" Ty-lee smiled before somersaulting to the door of the bathroom and opening it for them.

"However long _that_ train wreck lasts" Mai voiced Azula's exact thoughts.

Azula's bathtub was more like an enormous solid gold pool so there was plenty of room for all six girls to fit, bathe, and use the proper scented oils.

"Is this a tub or a lake- I think I'm seeing wrong" Toph grumbled as Suki tried in vain to keep the blind girl inside the tub. Toph, as expected was trying her hardest to get out of the water. "I'm clean already!!" Toph finally shouted, pulling away from Suki and pulling herself over the edge of the tub. "I'll be dressed and waiting for you dweebs" She proclaimed as she left. Azula looked up through her lashes at the retreating back.

"I think I'd like her to be bridesmaid of honor if she can act ladylike for a few minutes." Azula said with a hint of amusement. The others minus Katara rolled their eyes

"She can" Katara informed them quietly, everybody looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "Toph grew up in a very rich family…she just didn't like acting like it" She explained. All eyes widened. A half hour later Azula sighed

"Well, as the maid of honor said-we're clean enough, let's get this wedding and marriage over with" she said calmly, Ty-lee and Mai, possibly from habit, listened to her without objections. Katara did the same after sharing another look with Suki.

"I CALL HAIR" Ty-lee suddenly screamed as she grabbed Azula and sat her down in front of the vanity.

"This ought to be good" Mai murmured as she sat on the bed "I got the wedding dress so I'm in the clear" she said to anyone listening.

"I can do your makeup Azula" Suki offered. For the first time Azula looked moderately worried

"Any other offers?" she asked.

"Oh-I could do hair _and_ makeup" Ty-lee offered. The mental image alone sent shudders down Azula's spine.

"I'd rather look like a Kioshi warrior, thanks" Azula said-pulling away slightly from the overactive Ty-lee. Ty-lee looked hurt for a few seconds, but quickly got over it.

"I _can_ do normal makeup" Suki deadpanned.

"Sure you can" Mai said sarcastically—once again taking the words right from Azula's mind. Ty-lee was currently trying to start the fire for the hair iron by trying to find a match, Azula rolled her eyes and shot lighting at it. Ty-lee stared for a few moments before joyfully chirping out

"Thanks!!!" She put the iron over the flame and cartwheeled over to take out Azula's topknot and see what she had to deal with; when Azula's long wavy hair was out Ty-lee squealed "I know just what to do with this" She then basically ransacked Azula's room for hair gel, curling spray, and whatever else she needed.

"What do we do?" Toph asked Katara

"I'm going to get accessories; you get our dresses and tell Zuko you're the bride's maid of honor." Katara instructed. Toph nodded and left to get their new attire, Katara left for the nearest jewelry merchant.

((Guys skip this part if you want to retain maleness))

Azula was trying to tell herself that she looked repulsive; as expected of the girls that forced this onto her…but as she sized herself up in the mirror she found that she looked beautiful, her soon to be husband was a lucky man, or he was while he was still alive. The dress itself was done in air nomad colors, hanging off her shoulders in yellow, the yellow continued until the empire waistline, a simple red jewel hung at the center, from it orange folds flowed down; opening up for her petticoat, slight yellow lines were sewn about half an inch in. Her hair was twisted every half inch so that it went to the top of her head; Katara seemed to have more hair loppie holders because that's what was holding the twists. At the top of her head a sort of Water tribe crown looking thing was holing up multiple perfect curls. Her eyes were roped off by black eyeliner, and Mascara made her lashes pronounced; the effect gave her a smoky look and made her amber eyes standout even more. She was wearing powder-giving her skin a sort of paler look, making her cheeks look like she was permanently blushing from the blush and giving her an innocent look. Her lips were painted a strawberry pink on the top with a slightly redder one on the bottom, giving her a pout. She was wearing earth kingdom gloves; apparently Toph had had no say in clothing. The shoes and the insignia on the gem were the only things fire nation on her.

((Clear))

"Who exactly decided that I should look like the four nations threw up on me?" Azula asked, needing to be cruel. The girls ignored her comment-knowing full well that it was her way of saying 'thanks'

Azula swept down the aisle; basically everyone from all three nations was there to see her get married. It seemed that nobody had a clue as to who she was getting married to; there were rumors as to who it might be…from crazy king Bumi who was looking for a new bride to it being a hoax as nobody was quite stupid enough, to others saying it was a cold fire nation general that wanted her as a breading factory. Azula stood at her place, the groom wasn't their yet-only his groomsmen…even Zuko was nowhere to be found, and he was leading the ceremony.

"Zu-Zu's probably just taking his sweet time with finding Vows humiliating enough, or perhaps the groom finally gained some sanity and decided to get out while he's alive." She snarled coldly.

"Not quite Azula" Zuko said stepping out from behind a curtain and leading a young man in a fire nation cloak behind him. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked the male behind him again. Without a word the boy took his place next to Azula. Zuko sighed "I tried" he murmured to himself. He turned to those assembled "Nations!!! We recall six years ago the cruel reign of fire lord Ozai, we remember his brutal hand and unhinged tyranny. We know of the short but just as wicked rule of my sister Azula for the days before she was formally crowed Fire lord. And we have spent five long years rebuilding our world and trying to think of a punishment horrible enough for her without re shattering her mental state thereby making her even more dangerous and unpredictable. Azula the verdict is as follows; you live off of the fear of others you will be kept far away from anyone with any sign of fearing you, you love to be hated and so you will be surrounded by the only ones left on this earth that can love you, you who are independent will have everything chosen for you and will be even inside your own house trapped beyond circumstance and will have to ask for the simplest of things, you control people with your power, so you will be wed to the only one more powerful than you—Avatar Aang!!" As this was said Aang threw off his cloak and handed it to Teo, his groomsman of honor. He looked different from the last time she had seen him. In five years he had let his hair grow back; not much but enough to hit the nape of his neck, he too had a water nation pendant in it. Azula scoffed when she realized they were matching as he was wearing the same outfit he had used at the invasion and had earth kingdom gloves and quite possibly fire nation shoes. Zuko continued "Avatar Aang, it was you who asked that ex—princess Azula be given a second chance and so she is your responsibility. Do you accept this responsibility as well as responsibility for her actions?" Aang looked at Azula with a sort of pity…it unnerved her

"I do" Aang said loud and clear. Zuko nodded solemnly

"Then it is with a heavy heart that I pronounce you both bonded in marriage for however long you both shall live" There was scattered clapping, Zuko rolled his eyes "By the power vested in me as fire lord I name you husband and wife, you may kiss your bride…as soon as I leave the room" he added, disgusted with the thought of _any_one kissing his insane little sister. He practically ran behind the curtain as Aang gave Azula a light peck on the lips. Azula rolled her eyes as he did so and hugged him, closing in on his ear she hissed

"Only for the sake of the public eye are you to touch me…ever" Aang rolled his eyes at this.


	2. Annoucement

Attention all my readers (if you still bother to read me) There are going to be some changes, I sugest you visit my profile for more infromation.


	3. Chapter 2

Immediately after the wedding, Azula was knocked out (she wouldn't have gone to the reception anyway). She was loaded unto Appa and taken in circles for half an hour before being transferred into a carriage. She was awake by the time she was loaded in, but blindfolded. The carriage was made entirely of earth and Haru was driving. Azula had the blindfold taken off once she was inside. It didn't matter much as the carriage was windowless. Due to it moving on and with the earth, it didn't cause vibrations that she could follow. She was furious, to put it lightly. Even with the missed movements, all she needed was a landmark to be back on top and figure out both where she was and how to escape. Unfortunately for her, Aang had been warned of this.

"Hey Azula!" Her concentration was broken. She glared at him, and continued listening. "Azula!" He shouted again…not that there was any reason to shout, there were about a yard from one another. "Azula?" He tried again. She was now trying to figure out how to kill both him and the earth-bender so that she could make her escape and figured she could run until she saw something familiar. Aang moved over to her side of the carriage and began poking her as he continuously said her name. To Azula's credit, she managed to ignore him and focus on trying to find sound outside for about ten minutes. She really wished her bending wasn't gone, she's have just thrown lightning in his face.

"What Avatar?" She growled out.

"What's your favorite color?" Her eyes widened and she turned to him. She had completely forgotten about everything but him at this moment. Her brain was consumed with one question

"What?" The full question was actually 'What would prompt you to ask that and why is it important enough to bother me over and how stupid and inane can one person be?'. 'What' had been all that escaped from her mouth. Aang, never one to be phased simply smiled all the wider.

"You're favorite color…you have to have one, everyone does!" Azula blinked at him. She was trying to think of how his question could be used as an advantage later, it was the only possible reason for asking something like that. As she was trying to think of one, he resumed his insistent poking in her side.

"What _is _it?" Azula snapped. Aang seemed mildly amused. She cursed his name no less than a thousand times.

"You haven't told me yet"

"Told you what!"

"Your favorite color!" Azula's eyes widened in fury as the monk seemed to become almost smug. Her eyes narrowed then. This was his plan, to make her lose control. He was trying to keep her off balance. She was instantly furious at herself for not seeing through his ruse to begin with. If he thought he was going to trick her he had quite another thing coming. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She did not see Aang narrow his own eyes

"If I tell you my favorite color will you shut up?" She asked. He pretended to think on it a moment.

"Probably not"

"Then will you at least answer a question of my own for each one you ask me?"

"Sure, but I have two free questions now" He smiled widely

"One free question, as all patriotic members of the fire nation, I wear various shades of red at all times." Azula crossed her arms and looked straight out ahead, trying in vain to listen through the rock carriage. Aang pouted

"It doesn't count if you avoid the question." He said. Azula turned to him, actually surprised.

"I _did_ answer the question Avatar, I said that-

"You _said_" Aang but in, interrupting her "That all patriotic members of the fire nation wear shades of red, not if you actually even liked the color. The _question _was asking your favorite color. A favorite color isn't the one you wear the most, it's just a color you like" He smiled at her then, soft and trusting. Azula racked her brain. She didn't really have a color she 'liked'. What she wore was dictated by what she needed to do when wearing it. Satisfied that this was an answer, she told Aang as much. He looked almost sad at the explanation. "Alright, what's your favorite food?" He tried

"I eat whatever's put in front of me, taste matters not. Food is for the nourishment of your body" He sighed and shook his head.

"You're never going to be able to ask me anything if none of my questions have any answers." He informed her.

"Then ask more concrete questions!" She snapped at him. As she turned away, she did not notice Aang's eyes soften and his face light up.

"Alright, who do you like better, Mai or Ty-Lee?"

"What?" She turned to him, to see him patiently waiting for his answer. "They betrayed me…they _both _betrayed me. I hate them equally." He rolled his eyes

"Before the betrayal then, who was your favorite?" She blinks at him.

"Does that mean my…never-mind" She stopped with the knowledge that she would owe him another question just for asking if her previous one was accepted. She thought for a moment. "Mai was infinitely more useful to me. She had a natural talent for knife throwing, Ty-Lee had to learn her craft, turn bending around into something useful. Mai was also much quieter, Ty-Lee was horrid to bring on undercover missions and her sucking up was transparent at best. I think I liked her better though. Not that I had much of a choice, it was either a happy ball of sunshine or someone that wished the sun wouldn't exist anymore. She brought a bit of…something wherever we went. And she tried to be helpful" Aang looked entirely too happy with her answer.

"Alright so second question" He thought for a minute. "Why do you insist on calling me 'Avatar'? I have a name-I'm more than a title"

"You should be honored to have such a title. You could be branded as 'failure' or 'crazy' or even 'monster'. Names mean nothing; it is who we are that the world needs to know. You are the Avatar. I am well aware of your name Aang." She crossed her arms and sat, back straight against the carriage. Aang bit his lip as he processed that. He was starting to see exactly how much work was needed.

"Alright-your turn" As Azula opened her mouth to ask the 'door' of the carriage opened up. Haru and Aang insisted on helping her out and into the new home. She scowled the moment she saw it. Water bending locks on the front door. Aang had to open them to open the door. He blocked her from trying to go in.

"I have to carry you over the threshold" He said. Azula stared at him. As he tried to put his arm under her legs, she kicked out and backfliped away. "Azula! It's tradition…and Zuko said I should." She scoffed at that.

"Now I really would rather not." After a few rounds of cat and mouse, Haru managed to catch her for Aang. The young man grabbed her and marched her into the house. Azula, even struggling, noted that the front door locked automatically behind them. Though the doors they were passing through were open, they all had earth bending locks and even a few air bending locks. She scowled. As he moved, Aang used his bending to close the doors behind them. They all locked automatically.

"Oh, Zuko thought you'd really like this!" Aang smiled down at the scowling woman in his arms. He entered the last open door, the bedroom. Even Azula couldn't have hid the glimmer as her eyes lit up.

"It's a replica of my room at the palace" She said softly.

"Only half of it's a replica" Aang said smugly. "You were in a better replica when you were getting ready this morning." She blinked in surprise, and then tried to see if his words were true. Sure enough, from here she could see the snag on her Fire nation tapestry. The only real difference than her room was a second bureau (with an air bending lock) and two screens. Aang went over to the one with the locks and opened it, retrieving a pajama set before locking it back up. "I wouldn't suggest killing me" He said as he disappeared behind the screen. "I'm the only one that can get you out of here…not to mention they'll be checking up on us in about three days." He re-emerged. His sleepwear consisted of a water-tribe styled shirt and baggy pants. Azula went to examine the damage done with whoever picked out her clothing. She decided once she looked, that Mai must have had some say in it. She grabbed a long blood red sleeveless nightgown and went behind her screen to change. When she came back, the Avatar seemed to be asleep. She woke him up rudely.

"I didn't get a chance to ask my question yet." Aang sat up and gestured that she should go on. She looked him dead in the eyes. He wondered in the back of his head how a girl even younger than _him_ and completely powerless at the moment, could manage to strike so much fear into someone's heart. "Why, Avatar, are you so invested in what happens to me? What is your reasoning to care?


End file.
